Software building blocks

This section describes some of the fundamental building blocks of the framework. It is important to understand these concepts and associated terminology in order to fully benefit from the use of the Workbench.

Concepts include the following:

  • Modules — the most basic unit of the software that comprises the framework.

  • Components — the primary building blocks of the framework.

  • Presentation XML (Px) — an XML file format that defines how the framework visualizes information (text, graphics, alarms, and so on) across diverse media, such as: Workbench, web browsers, and mobile devices.

  • Stations — the main unit of server processing in the framework architecture. Defined by a single .bog file, a station application is launched as a single virtual machine (VM) on the host PC.

  • ORDs — (Object Resolution Descriptor) is the framework’s universal identification system and is used throughout the framework.

  • Views — a visualization of a component, such as: Property Sheet view, Wire Sheet view, etc.

  • Lexicons — The framework provides non-English language support by use of lexicons. Distributed as lexicon modules identified by two-digit Java locale codes, such as fr (French) as evidenced by this filename:niagaraLexiconFr.jar.